Hello everyone. I'm from the Montreal area.

I just joined and this is my first post here on FitFreak.net.

I've been reading posts here for a while and have grown to like this place. Thanks to the great info that you have provided so far, I'm quite convinced to purchase a Fit!

My present car is an 88 Honda Civic DX 4dr 5sp (white - see sig pict) and it still runs quite well but is starting to show it's age a bit. I also had a beaten 88 civic wagon a few years ago for hauling stuff around and to use during the worst winter weather. I love these practical cars!

Last friday afternoon I visited Lallier Honda in person to see when they were to receive the new Fits. I was excited to see that they have some there on display. I was very unhappy with the aggessive attitude of the salespeople there. Especially one of them. So much so that I won't buy my car there.

The 2 salespeople that I spoke to both told me that only 5% of all Fits shipped to Canada would be the DX model and that if I wanted one it would be by special order only. Has anyone else heard this or can confirm it to be true?

 

Since the DX has next to no profit margin, odds are they will be few and far between. But like anything else, the market will decide, and Honda will either have to ship the required number of cars to meet demand, or fumble and screw up a good thing.

 

Most likely just a sales pitch to try and get you to buy one right now. But I would think the popular model will be the LX with the Sport close behind so it may be somewhat true. With the DX having no A/C, I don't think it will be that popular among consumers.

 

actually, DX has amazing value for it's price tag at $15,000. If u can live without A/C, DX is one to get.

 

Well, that was unpleasant.

I dropped by one of the larger Honda dealerships today to get a brochure. The visit lasted all of two minutes.

The salesman wanted to show me the car, but I have already seen it and was on my lunch, so we skipped that. Fine. He showed me the last page of the pamphlet he had, listing the trims and put his hand over the left side. “We won’t be carrying the DX”, he said. I said “But I am only interested in the DX; it's going to be that or a second hand. You don’t even accept orders?” “No, but if you don’t want A/C, the Civic DX is about the same price as the LX Fit…”.

To make matters worse, after leaving the dealership, I went to pick up some lunch at the fast food joint next door. While waiting in line to order, two employees from the same dealership walked in and start talking about the Fit. Basically, their conversation went along the lines: Lots of interest (“always like that for new cars”) but don’t expect to sell many (“it’s just to get people in the showroom”).

Call me if you find a DX. We’ll talk.

 

What a rant

Serious question - does anyone know what security options are offered on the DX? They are listed in the downloadable brochure (looks like the same options as the LX), but are not listed in the DX Build It Price It.

 

Allocation of DX is 10%

DX manual 4%

DX auto 6%

LX man 25%

LX auto 50%

sport man 5%

sport auto 10%

 

I too was by the Lallier dealership on Marcel Laurin on the previous Thursday. The shorty salesman gave me this gobledygook about not being able to order DX models. I didn't like the look of his shifty eyes or his crooked smile so I asked him a couple of questions to test his knowledge of the car. Had I been grading him, I would most definitely have failed him. He shut up when I told him that I wasn't buying his stories (in not these exact words); suffice to say that Honda Canada is banking on the LX being the most popular model...and they will ensure that this happens by limitting the DX's availability.

Oh, and another thing. The little snot nose was able to confirm my suspicions of the whole pricing structure being set up so that potential victims (sorry, buyers) are redirected towards the Civic range.

The Fit is yet another brilliant Honda product let down by Honda Canada marketing schemes and greedy dealers. I'll wait a while by hanging on to my '91 Civic CX for a couple more years, and pick up an LX on the second hand market for a fair deal. Too bad.

 

Wow, all you Canadians need to move here to Winnipeg. The dealers here are stoked about the Fit and say they want to stock shitloads of them if they can get product. They treat the Fit different than the Civic. Two totaly different cars to the dealers here. My dealer said it will in no way cut into the Civic sales. People will buy the Fit because it's the Fit, low price, hatch and it's a Honda.

Or you are all just paranoid.

 

Yes Dañiel. Since things are not so rosy in Pequistan or Orangeville, we're all just itchin' to move out to picturesque Winnipeg, land of the endless winter and crow-sized mosquitoes! Maybe then the population will explode to...like 10 people and the dealers will have more than a dozen units in stock!

All kidding aside, I'm glad to hear that not all Honda dealers are as ethically challenged as the above examples.

 

@Green Lightning, it sounds like you met the same salesman as I did. I felt very uncomfortable around him.

You say that you have a '91 Civic CX? Didn't the CX only come after 92?

 

The CX was offered in the 1988-1991 HB as well. Was marginally better than the Civic base, that was sold with a 4 speed manual transmission, and cruddy vinyl seats!!

And the two different sales people I spoke to in Ottawa didn't give me the impression that they didn't care about the Fit. Of course one tried to get me to test drive the Civic, since I first asked her about the Fit in the beginning of March, and no Fits were in sight. Both did say that getting a manual Sport won't be that easy, but I'm patient to order and await the arrival of the Fit in the colour, trim level and transmission that I want.

 

"The CX was offered in the 1988-1991 HB as well. Was marginally better than the Civic base, that was sold with a 4 speed manual transmission, and cruddy vinyl seats!!"

All Canadian Civic models came with a 5-speed manual as standard. It was the U.S. base models (no two-letter designation) that featured the 4-speed.

My cargo cover/rear speaker tower, and passenger-side mirror were options. The vinyl seats sucked from day one. I spent $120.00 on aftermarket taylored seat covers that have held up pretty well, and was therefore spared the unsightlyness of disintegrating vinyl.

 

Well, I've test driven a base 1988-1991 Civic that had a 4 speed manual, and it was a Canadian model. I just did a search on car-part.com, there are a bunch of Canadian wreckers with 4 speed manual transmissions for sale. I'd be VERY surprised if they were all from US.

 

ROFL!!! OMG I was pwned!!!!11

Hey, the population here is 700,000!! :P

 

For those of you with the patience and time to wait, the Fit's sales are slipping in Japan. That may step up the supply in N. America:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...Cc&refer=japan

 

Ordered A Honda Fit DX Manual On Tuesday April 4, 2006 from Classic Honda in Brampton. Car is being delivered and ready for pick up on Monday April 10, 2006. No problem getting the DX manual and was treated with respect by the sales consultant Mohamed. They are the # 1 volume dealer in the area so I suggest if your looking for a DX manual give them a call!!!

 

All fits come standard with an immobilizer (coded into the key). The alarm/security system is a $310 option, and keyless entry is another $240.

 

I went into the Honda Dealership in my area the first day the Fit was available to the public and it took an entire month for them to have a DX model shipped to that dealer. They said it was very rare to get those models since DX is only available for the Canadian Market.

 

Yeah, apparently only about 5% of Fit sales are expected to be DX. The LX is expected to make up 75%, and the Sport about 20%. I'm not sure if someone has already stated these figures here.